


The Smartest Little Green Bean in the Galaxy

by prettypinkliquid



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: F/M, lots of fluff, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27261064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettypinkliquid/pseuds/prettypinkliquid
Summary: When Cara is ambushed, she and Din discover that Bean is a lot smarter than they gave him credit for.
Relationships: Caradin, Din Djarin/Cara Dune
Comments: 16
Kudos: 44





	The Smartest Little Green Bean in the Galaxy

With Bean and four month old Erryn down for their mid-morning nap, Din had headed to a nearby clearing to do some precision training with his jetpack as a way to work off frustration after getting into an argument with a Caridan earlier at the market. Cara on the other hand walked down the Crest’s loading ramp with a ladder over her shoulder and a pouch of tools on her hip. One of the Crest’s turret blasters had begun firing at random and was in dire need of repair.

She had a feeling she knew what was wrong with it, they’d gotten caught in a meteor shower and she suspected it had damaged part of the wiring. It was an easy fix once she managed to find the spot in the nearly two hundred feet of wiring. She was up to her shoulders inside the turret when she heard loud brash voices at her feet. The small gap afforded her a partial view, and she could see red skin, horns, and sharp teeth. _Devaronians._ Before she had time to react one knocked the ladder out from under her feet, and she tumbled to the ground headfirst where a quiet darkness swallowed her whole.  
  
She slowly became aware of her surroundings, and began trying to force her body to respond, her mind sluggish. _How long had she been out? It didn't seem like much time had passed. Couldn't have been more than five or ten minutes._ She fumbled for the small pouch on her belt, and yanked the comm link from it, tapping a pattern on it to silently alert Din that she was in trouble. She rolled over so that the world was right side up and saw a pair of Devaronians quickly exit the ship, each with a blanket wrapped bundle in their arms. _No! The babies!_ She reached for her hip blaster, but quickly decided it was a bad idea, she was still experiencing some mild double vision and couldn't risk hurting Erryn or Bean. _It can't be them though, they're not making any noise._ She lay still and watched as the men were picked up by a pair of speeders and disappeared back towards town.  
  
As soon as her head stopped swimming enough for her to be able to move she pushed herself to her feet, and stumbled up the ramp into the ship. The entire common area looked as if it had been turned inside out. She quickly rushed to their sleeping pod where she'd left both babies to nap. The bed was empty, blankets thrown into a heap in the corner. She backed out of the room as she began to shake. When her back hit the wall she slid down it, crumpling to the floor where she began to scream.  
  
Din landed a short distance from the ship, having turned for home as soon as the first tap came through the comm link. He could hear Cara screaming in terror, and it made his blood run cold. It was a sound he'd only heard once before, the night they thought Bean had accidentally shot himself. He rushed up the ramp, stopping short when he saw that their living area was in complete chaos. He yanked his helmet off and dropped it on the table as he rushed to Cara's side. When he knelt next to her he was met by the overwhelming stench of urine. Whatever it was that happened had terrified her to the point she lost control of her bladder. He put the smell aside and put a hand on her shoulder. "What happened?" He asked cautiously.  
  
"D..Devaronians...the bab..babies...took them," she spluttered in response.  
  
Din didn't give her time to say anything else. He stood, and stormed for the door, cramming his helmet back on his head as he went. He ran down the ramp and jumped into the air, his jetpack instantly responding, and he flew towards the loading bays where he'd noticed their freighter moored hours before. By the time he reached the bays they had untied their ship, and it was slowly lifting away from the dock. Fortunately he knew there was only one trading port in the galaxy that dealt with children, and as heavy as their freighter was they were likely planning an offload somewhere before they got there, giving the Crest plenty of time to get ahead of them. Without bothering to stop he turned again and headed back for his own ship.  
  
When he arrived back at the Crest he landed and pushed the buttons on his vambrace to close the bay door as soon as he cleared it. Cara was still sitting huddled on the floor, and he took his helmet off, putting it on the table before kneeling next to her again. Her eyes were empty, and she didn't react when he put a hand on her shoulder, telling him she'd completely shut down. "I know where they're taking the kids, there's only one port in the galaxy that allows the sell and trade of children, and thanks to their big mouths, I know where they're taking the rest of their cargo based on what I heard at the market this morning. That heavy freighter can't handle hyperspace, so we have plenty of time to get ahead of them and be sitting at the dock waiting on them to get there," he explained, watching her face for some sort of response, and growing worried when there was none. "We're going to get them back baby, you have my word. Erryn and Bean will be back in their momma's arms before those bastards even get docked in Galactic City."  
  
When she still remained silent he gathered her into his arms and picked her up, carrying her across the small space and sitting her on the bench outside the fresher before kneeling in front of her again. "You can't shut down baby, you can't. If you do you run the risk of getting sick, and then your body can't do what it needs to to take care of Erryn," he said. "You don't have to do a lot, just the basics. Why don't you start with taking a shower to clean up and put on some dry clothes?"  
  
A barely perceptible nod was his answer, and she bent forward to take off her boots. He helped her to take them off, and they both stood, Cara starting the water in the shower and Din moving to start working on the mess. Despite knowing he was losing time, he wanted to be close to the fresher to make sure she didn’t completely shut down again. He put the stools back under the table, closed drawers, and righted items on shelves as he steadily made his way from one side of the room to the other. He was furious that the babies had been kidnapped, but he knew that he needed to either shelve it for later, or do something to temper it so that he could be there emotionally for Cara who had never been away from either of the babies since Erryn was born. He allowed the anger to bleed off while he cleaned by imagining all the different ways he could round them up and present to her to dispatch of them as she chose. Once everything was back in its place he walked back to the fresher and listened carefully. He could hear her moving around which was promising. Satisfied that she wouldn’t simply sit in the water til she ran the tanks dry he headed for the cockpit.

Din climbed up the small ladder and stepped off it, pausing when the sensor didn’t detect his presence and automatically open the door. He knew the sensor wasn’t faulty because he’d replaced it two weeks ago, so the only explanation was that it was locked, which was unusual. He pushed the button on his vambrace to unlock them and braced himself for a potential attack. It was then that he realized that there was a strong possibility that someone outside his family was about to see his face. Oh well, whoever it was wouldn’t live to tell anyone anyway. 

The doors opened and Din instantly deflated. Instead of being ambushed what he saw was Bean sitting in the pilots chair with Erryn sitting between his legs. The four-month-old was cuddled against his chest, sucking her thumb and snoozing contently as if she didn't have a care in the world. For his part, Bean looked as if it were any other day where his sister had fallen asleep on him. He had one arm curled around her to support her upper body, and his free hand rested atop a grenade that was in the chair next to him. Bean gave Din a toothy grin, and Din started laughing.

He wasn't worried about the grenade, mostly because the weapons cabinet had reinforced locks and he'd given the little guy free reign to attempt to get in as a way to expose any weak points. He also knew that this one had to be the fake one that Cara had made up for a prank, because the real one's were too heavy for Bean to pick up with one hand. He made a mental note to pull images from the security camera later, and moved to take Erryn off Bean's lap. "She's as big as you are," he teased.

Bean growled softly and let go of the grenade, curling his other arm around his sister to prevent her from being moved. "You don't want dadda to take her?" Din asked, amused. Bean shook his head. "You want momma to take her?"

This time Bean nodded, and Din was convinced that being force sensitive allowed him to pick up on emotions, to the point he could feel Cara's pain at being separated from her babies. "Okay, you can wait for momma to come upstairs," he said.

Din stepped back towards the ladder and could tell from the burst of warm air that was coming through the gap Cara had at least opened the fresher door. He dropped to lay flat and then poked his head through the hole to look for her. She was just coming out of their sleeping pod, having changed into black pants and one of the sleeveless tunics he'd gotten her. "Can you come upstairs a minute? There's something you gotta see on the security holo," he said encouragingly.

Cara gave him a look, and he offered her a smile. She sighed and approached the ladder, and Din pushed himself up until he was on his knees, knowing the heartache she was experiencing was seconds from disappearing. When she was far enough up the ladder that her torso was above the floor, Din pointed towards the cockpit. "Look," he said.

When she saw Bean in his dad's chair with his sister snoozing in his arms Cara laughed just like Din did. There were no tears, and Din watched as the light returned to her eyes, all of her worry evaporating in an instant. Her posture changed, the tension and stress melting away as she discovered her babies were safe and sound. "I never even thought to look up here because he knows it's offlimits when were not up here with him," she said as she climbed out on the upper deck. "We should've known he was too smart to let them take him or his sister."

She approached the pair and Bean allowed Cara to take Erryn who wriggled and grunted like she always did when she was disturbed in her sleep. "He wouldn't let me have her," Din said as Cara settled in the co-pilot's seat. "I think he can sense how upset you were."

Bean nodded in agreement, making Cara smile. She normally got annoyed with Din anytime he teasingly referred to him as a momma's boy, but this is one time he fit the moniker. Din picked him up and turned, settling him in the seat he'd had made for the little guy that fit into the navigator's chair. 

Now that they had found him and his sister he reverted to being the typical Bean who didn't have a care in the world, and who seemed to be oblivious to what was really going on. The two adults spent a long moment looking at each other, before they both laughed again. "I got so focused on getting them back, I've forgotten what our plans were for today," he said.

"Me too," Cara agreed. "How about you just get us outta here for now, and we'll go from there?"

"Good idea," Din said jovially. He turned his chair and began the sequence of getting the Crest's engines up and going on full power. Before long they were offworld. "I'm gonna set us for The Outer Rim, we can decide where we wanna get off at later."

Cara knew why he picked to go as far out as they could possibly go. It would give them time for their nerves to settle, and for them to discuss what needed to change in order to keep it from happening again. Because it wouldn't happen again if she could help it. She knew getting Erryn to the upper deck had been exhausting for Bean even if he didn't show it, she was as big as he was, and would probably outgrow him before the end of the month. That alone told her they needed a better spot to hide in. Later tonight once both babies were in bed, she'd give the ship a thorough once over and see if there were other options.

When they entered the familiar comfort of hyperspace Din turned his chair, leaning forward to tuck the dummy grenade into one of the pockets of Bean's chair. "Dah!" Bean cried in protest.

Din looked up, confused. "What?" He asked.

"It goes on the other side," Cara answered without looking, as she removed some nonexistent something from Erryn's face that only she could see.

Din rolled his eyes, but moved it to an empty spot on the other side. He sat back, resting his right ankle on his left knee. Bean yawned and his ears began to droop. Now that all the fuss was over he really wanted to nap and recoup. Cara leaned over and stroked one of his ears. "Ready for a nap huh lil man?" She asked.

Bean nodded with a soft coo. Din watched as Cara pulled out Bean’s datapad and pulled up the list of holo-vids. He chose a favorite, and she started it for him before standing the datapad into the holder on his chair. The chair had two small speakers set into it just below his ears so that he could hear the video without forcing them to listen to it for the umpteenth time. Cara fished out his stuffed mythosaur and handed it to him. Bean curled an arm around his plushie and put his thumb in his mouth, settling in to watch the video.

Cara and Din both smiled, but while Cara's was maternal, Din was hoping that by smiling he could avoid cracking up laughing. For someone who once claimed she didn't do the baby thing, she seemed to have settled quite comfortably into motherhood. Erryn wriggled and fussed, prompting Cara to unfasten the snaps at one of the shoulders on her tunic. She lowered the material and exposed her breast, getting the infant latched onto the nipple. There was a sigh as she settled down to nurse, drawing a soft chuckle from Cara, who patted her diapered bottom.

Din's smile changed to one of pride as he watched Cara nurse their daughter, something about the act stirred something in him that he couldn't explain. When she suckled the infant it was as if they were the only two beings in existence, and he could watch the interaction all day. "Why don't you pull up the security footage so we can see what happened," Cara said, bringing him out of his daydream.

Din turned his chair and used the onboard system to pull up footage from two of the security cameras, rewinding through the days events until he could pinpoint where it all started. He let the recording play and then sat back, he and Cara both focusing their attention on the screen. They watched as Bean appeared, a sleepy expression on his face. He padded across the room towards the vac unit when he noticed the bay door was open. He wobbled over and stood staring for a long moment, before he quickly turned around and went back towards the sleeping pod. "So he got up to potty, noticed the bay door and came looking for me. He spotted the Devaronians instead, and hurried back to get to his sister," Cara narrated.

Bean reappeared and struggled to carry his sister over to the cockpit ladder. He laid her down, and then used his gift to lift her to the upper deck. He used the knotted climbing rope that Din had hung up for him to play on to climb up to the cockpit. Din pushed a button and the camera changed to the one outside the cockpit.

Bean picked his sister up and carried her just inside the doors, laying her down again and hurrying over to the captain's chair. He climbed up, and they were fascinated as he pushed the button to close and lock the doors. He got out of the chair and got his pretend grenade out of its pocket, putting it on the seat of his dad's chair before climbing back up onto it. He used his gift to pick up his sister a second time and when he got her into the chair with him, they could see his chest heaving in exhaustion. He kissed Erryn's head and settled back, one hand resting on the grenade. Din and Cara sat dumbfounded.

They could see themselves return to the ship, watching as Din lifted Cara and sat her on the stool. "He could hear us at this point, so why not unlock the doors and alert us to his presence?" Din pondered.

"Probably too exhausted, and since Erryn is as big as he is, it would've required more effort to move her than he could safely manage," Cara replied. "This proves I was right, we need somewhere safe for them to hide in the event of an emergency, that won't exhaust him in the process."  
  
"We get to the Outer Rim we'll hit up a market, and pick up the stuff to fortify their room. That way all he has to do is get inside and push a button," Din said. "We can also look into getting something he can put her in that he can easily move her with, since she's nowhere near old enough to crawl, much less walk."  
  
Erryn's suckling began to slow, but Cara knew she wasn't finished eating. "C'mon, let's go downstairs. She's ready to switch sides, and I need to change her when she's done," she said.  
  
They both stood and made their way towards the ladder. "I'll leave him up here for now, he'll sleep til dinner at least," Din said.

* * *

A couple of hours later Din had made Tiingilar, one of Bean's favorite human foods, its spicy aroma filling the main part of the living area. As a surprise he had also made Uj'alayi, under the guise that it would help cool their tongues, though Cara knew it was because their little goblin loved anything sweet.  
  
She climbed the ladder a second time to wake Bean for dinner and could hear him whimpering as she reached the upper platform, and quickly padded into the cockpit to find him in the throes of a nightmare. She unfastened his harness and took his hands into her own, squeezing them gently. Waking him from a bad dream was tricky, he tended to try and use his gift, not realizing that he was doing so both in his dream as well as the waking world. She had discovered that capturing his hands and squeezing them gave him a tangible connection to reality that broke the nightmare's spell, but didn't prompt him to react in a way that could hurt him or someone else. By squeezing his hands his brain sent the message that someone he loved was nearby, and it was just a bad dream.  
  
He woke with a loud cry, and for a moment he sat with his chest heaving and a frightened look on his face. When the terror of the nightmare lifted, he began to cry and reached for her with grabbing fingers. She quickly scooped him up and cuddled him, twisting her shirt into his fists as he clung to her. "You're alright Bean, momma's gotcha," she murmured, patting his back.  
  
She could feel his heart pounding in his chest as she cuddled him and she wished his speech was better developed so that she could try and get a better understanding of what frightened him so. It took a few minutes of cuddling before his heartrate began to slow, and he finally tucked his head under her chin and sucked his thumb, telling her he wasn't scared anymore but still wanted to cuddle. She carried him to the ladder where the scent of spicy casserole wafted up from below, and he gave a curious coo. Tiingilar was only made on special occasions. "Dadda made your favorite for dinner," she said as she started down the ladder.  
  
When she reached the living area Bean's head turned, and he looked around at all the places Erryn would normally be. "Whatcha looking for bud?" Din asked.  
  
"Sissy's asleep in her bed," Cara said, easily connecting the dots. "How about you let dadda take you and show you while momma visits the vac unit?"  
  
Bean nodded and reached for Din who in turn took him from Cara's arms and headed to the creche. When she came out of the vac minutes later he was sitting in his chair at the table, relaxed and happy. "Bean, did the bad men hurt sissy in your dream?" She asked as she joined him at the table.  
  
Bean shook his head, pointing at Cara as Din turned from the cooker. "The bad men hurt momma?" He questioned, putting the casserole on the table before sitting down. Cara smiled, knowing he'd kept dessert hidden so the little imp would eat dinner.  
  
This time Bean nodded, tugging at his ear, his signal that he really hated something. So that meant they hurt her badly, and Din could only imagine how. "Did the bad men take sissy away?" Din asked.  
  
Bean nodded again. Cara reached over to stroke an ear, knowing she could expect a few days of clinginess as he would be desperate to make sure she and Erryn both were always okay. Din dished out a small portion of the casserole and Cara spent a moment cutting into Bean sized chunks. He wasn't quite adept with a fork yet, so he was still eating most of his meals with his hands. She gave the toddler his bowl and he dug in happily, alternating eating chunks of the spicy casserole with drinks from his cup. At first they thought the behavior was because the dish was too spicy for him, but after watching him snack on oseose pods, considered the hottest pepper in the galaxy, without shedding a tear, they realized it was something different. Cara suspected it was for the same reason they did, which was to simply help wash it down.  
  
There was a burp and they both looked up as he covered his mouth with a hand. "Scuu," he warbled softly, the closest he could come to excuse me.  
  
Both adults smiled. "After dinner, we need to look into coming up with somewhere for them to hide besides their room, it’s too obvious and one of the first places anyone would check," she said. “It should be somewhere easy to get to so that he doesn’t exhaust himself trying to make sure he and his sister are both safe.”  
  
Bean gurgled loudly and pointed at an unused cabinet. They both looked and Din smiled. That'll work," he said. "It's big enough for them to hide in comfortably, and with some slight modifications we can make it suit our needs. Next major market we stop at I'll pick up the necessary components to make it secure, and lockable from the inside."  
  
Cara got up from the table and crossed the distance to the cabinet, opening it and squatting down in front of it for a better look. "It also needs padding, a light source so they aren't in the dark, and a temporary air supply," she said, making Din chuckle. He loved when her military training collided with the part of her that was a protective parent.  
  
"Like I said, some slight modifications will make it work," he said. "Including a way to see who's out here so he knows whether or not to open the door."  
  
She nodded as she stood, and returned to the table, collecting their dirty dishes. "Good job ad’ika," she praised when she picked up Bean's empty bowl. She showed it to Din.  
  
"Very good job, how about some Uj'alayi for dessert?" He asked.  
  
His answer was a high pitched squeal.  
  


* * *

  
  
Later that night after getting Bean to bed, and Erryn's nighttime feed, the mentally exhausted parents showered and then crawled into their double bunk. Din got settled and held open the blanket for Cara, who curled up against him and promptly burst into tears. He said nothing, choosing to drag his fingers up and down her back in a soothing motion, knowing she was finally allowing herself to let go of the emotion she'd bottled up earlier when they had found the babies safe and sound.  
  
When her tears began to slow, he wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "This can't happen again," she snuffled. "He got lucky this time, but I don't want to take any chances."  
  
"It won't happen again baby, I promise," he replied. "We're headed for the Outer Rim where the big markets are. Once we get there we'll get whatever we need to transform the cabinet into a safe room for them, and we won't move on until we're comfortable with the design, and how well Bean can use it. Alright?"

Cara nodded. “Let’s set it up so that it’s so inviting he wants to spend time in it even when he’s not in danger,” she said.

“Sounds like a plan.”


End file.
